“Law enforcement agents, social workers, and judges have all been trained to maintain a watchful eye over exploitative family members. Yet no one seems to be guarding the guardians. Family members have complained to local law enforcement, the state attorneys’ office, and even the F.B.I. “

___________________________

Marie Long was worth $1.3 million when she suffered a stroke and came under the “protection” of a professional guardian. Three short years later, she is penniless and subsisting off of a meager social security pension and Medicaid.

Louise A. Falvo, 91, had accumulated nearly one million dollars when she was placed under a guardianship that was commenced with a forgery of her daughter’s signature by a probate attorney. Within three months, Louise A. Falvo was dead. Two and a half years later, the guardianship remains open. The guardian and her attorneys have, to date, been awarded by the judge more than $350,000.00 of Falvo’s estate—“to benefit the ‘ward’”—who is deceased.

Corretta Brown was placed under guardianship when the Department of Children and Families discovered that her home was uninhabitable. Today, Brown is deceased, her assets have disappeared (more than $100,000.00), and all of her debts—totaling more than $75,000.00 in nursing home costs, remain unpaid. The professional guardian, it was discovered, was not licensed and has since fled the state of Florida with Brown’s assets.

Marie Sandusky signed a power of attorney to guarantee that her beloved daughter, and not her rejected son, would manage her financial affairs and health care directives. Today, Sandusky has a court-appointed guardian who has spent more than $300,000.00 of Sandusky’s money in attorney’s fees. The reason? Sandusky’s rebuked son hired an attorney and together they made false allegations against Sandusky’s beloved daughter. As the “wheels of justice” move forward, Sandusky’s money is legally used to fund the frivolous feud.

Debra Duffield, 58, has been under the control of a professional guardian for the last four years. She was only 54 years old when an involuntary guardianship was petitioned against her by a professional guardian who gleefully discovered (tipped off by a social worker) Duffield’s substantive worth when Duffield was hospitalized for anorexia and a broken hip. During the last four years, the vast majority of her assets have been converted to attorney and guardian fees. Duffield, who was diagnosed as merely bipolar, had allegedly been financially exploited by a friend—hence, the rationale for the guardianship. She is confined to a nursing home without rehabilitation . She sits in a bed, smelling of urine and fecal matter, watching television. The guardian and her attorney regularly and steadfastly bill her account for merely “reading her file” or checking on the latest whereabouts of her former girlfriend. Soon, Duffield, who once owned a fabulous house complete with expensive antiques, valuable imported rugs and fine paintings, will be penniless.

When you hear the word “professional guardian,” what do you think? Do you think of someone who protects the elderly? Assists them with their daily needs? Guarantees they are protected from financial exploitation and physical neglect?

Think again.

The pristine image of professional court-appointed guardians who allegedly protect the elderly is being challenged. Grass root organizations, such as the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse ((N.A.S.G.A.) and A.N.G.E.R. (Advocates for National Guardianship Ethics and Reform) are claiming that professional guardians, their attorneys—and even judges—need to be watched.

May 25, 2010. Latifa Ring of Elder Abuse Victims Advocates addressed the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security stating, “ . . . exploitation in guardianships is rampant. It is largely kept out of the public eye under the guise of ‘protection.’”

“Family members are portrayed as “Osama Bin Laden” or the devil incarnate,” David Newman said, a guardian reform advocate.

These “unproven and often false allegations” commence a flurry of legal activity that can only be likened to Charles Dickinson’s Bleakhouse. While family members are forced to spend thousands of dollars defending themselves against the false accusations, these same accusers—oftentimes, the professional guardians– handsomely profit from the legal havoc they create.

“The Guardians Need to be Watched”

Take, for example, the recently widely publicized case of Clay Greene and Harold Scull, a gay couple who had cogently cohabitated together for more than 20 years, rendering mutual durable powers of attorney, wills, and other legal declarations upon one another. When Scull, 89, unexpectedly fell onto a stone patio, paramedics were called and the local sheriff department hastily alleged that Greene had intentionally shoved Scull to the ground. Yet, despite the fact that all charges were subsequently dropped, the public guardianship office for Sonoma County used the already disproved physical abuse allegation to commence an involuntary guardianship against Scull. Scull was removed to a nursing home, isolated him from Greene, and the couple’s jointly owned property which included valuable paintings, expensive Persian rugs, antiques, silverware, jewelry, and real estate—was sold for far less than appraised value—at least according to the court records. It was later discovered that the items had been sold for far more by the public guardianship office.

These types of guardianship irregularities have sparked a guardianship task force Special Committee on Aging, which reported, “. . .guardianship . . . has the potential of harming older adults rather than protecting them . . . . The . . . continuing reports of the failure of courts . . . to prevent [financial] exploitation of incapacitated adults by their guardians have long been of concern to this Committee.”

Greene sued the public guardianship office who settled with him for approximately $600,000.00 just days before trial. Amy Todd-Gher, Greene’s attorney, stated, “This victory sends an unmistakable message that all elders must be treated with respect and dignity . . . and that those who mistreat elders must be held accountable. [But] Even as we celebrate this victory . . . we are deeply troubled that the Sonoma [County] continues to refuse to take responsibility for their egregious misconduct. . . . We urge every citizen . . . to demand more oversight of the Public Guardian’s office. They need to be watched.”

An Alarmingly Common Practice

Is elder financial exploitation by professional guardians and their attorneys a commonplace occurrence? According to John Caravella, a former detective and office manager for Seniors vs. Crime, a special project of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, Gainesville, Florida, the answer is “yes.”

Caravella became simultaneously intrigued and disturbed by the court-sanctioned practices of professional guardians on their “wards” (the legal term dubbed to those who have lost all of their civil rights under court-mandated guardianship) when one of his neighbors mysteriously disappeared shortly after receiving an inheritance of more than a quarter of a million dollars. The neighbor, referred to as “Adelle” in Caravella’s book, “Marked for Destruction,” had been falsely induced by a stock broker, whom she had consulted about her fledgling inheritance money, to sign papers that authorized a professional guardian and her attorney to manage Adele’s finances–if she should become mentally incapacitated. Within a few weeks, the guardian and her attorney petitioned the court alleging that Adele was not competent to manage her own affairs. The court authorized that she be stripped of all of her civil rights and placed in a nursing home. Soon thereafter, Adele’s recently acquired $250,000.00+ was quickly consumed by the attorney and guardian for “professional services” fees. And Adele soon passed away.

How It All Begins

Kevin Gallagher had a trusted, longstanding pact with his beloved parents: When the time was “right,” he would make arrangements for their safe return to Maine where they would reside in assisted living. That “right time” came unexpectedly one day after Sunday services when Robert and Elsa Gallagher became slightly disoriented in traffic when they happenchanced upon orange cones in a road detour. Kevin and Lisa, delighted to hear that their parents were ready to journey home, began making all of the necessary arrangements. Kevin even phoned his estranged Orlando-based sister, Lori, and asked if she would simply “telephone” Mom and Dad during the interim. The sister, however, consulted the Yellow Pages and telephoned a company, Geriatric Care Management, that specializes in elder care.

The Sheriffs Arrive

Within 48 hours, a professional guardian and owner of an elder care company, arrived at the Gallagher’s doorstep with a court order and two deputy sheriffs. She had hastily petitioned to become the couple’s “emergency temporary guardian” after learning of their substantive assets. Upon her arrival, the couple were forcefully removed from their home and placed in separate nursing home facilities. Mrs. Gallagher, hysterical, secretly phoned her daughter-in-law, her speech slurred, crying for help. She had been forcibly administered psychotropic drugs. Three medical professionals quickly examined her while under the influence of the narcotics, and declared both she and her husband simultaneously 100% mentally incapacitated. The predator, triumphant, was quickly appointed the permanent, plenary guardian.

The first move was to harness all of the assets.

The Legal Contest Commences

Instead of making arrangements for their safe return home, Kevin Gallagher suddenly found himself furiously searching for Florida attorneys. Meanwhile, the guardians’ legal counsel quickly filed papers to block Kevin’s attempts at removing his parents from Florida to Maine. A hotly contested guardianship soon commenced with attorneys from both sides legally authorized to generously pay themselves from the Gallaghers’ assets.

“The story is always the same,” states Newman, a guardianship reform advocate. “A family member fights the guardianship; then the family member later ‘wins’ the contest–when all the assets have been spent in attorneys’ fees.”

Three years passed. Kevin found himself switching attorneys four times in an attempt to get the legal nightmare to stop

Then, suddenly, it did stop. Kevin was declared the winner of the contest.

All of the assets had been spent.

“They then placed my parents on a airplane with a single suitcase with a broken zipper,” Kevin stated. “Inside the suitcase were tattered clothes that had the names of other people in Magic Marker inside the clothes. Everything they had owned—even their clothes—had been sold or trashed by the guardian.”

Both Elsa and Robert died shortly after returning to Maine.

Family Feud –or- An Open Invitation for Fraud?

Corrine Branson, 82, had been happily living in Miami Beach with the daily assistance of a CNA when her grandson secretly petitioned the court to become his grandmother’s guardian. When Branson learned that she was to be moved into a nursing home, she quickly phoned her beloved daughter, aunt to the grandson, who had been granted a springing power of attorney many years before. Bonnie Reiter, with little knowledge of guardianships or guardianship law, quickly hired an attorney who suggested that a “professional guardian” be appointed during the interim legal contest.

It turned out that the guardian he suggested works with him on a regular basis. Reiter fired her attorney, hired another, and then moved for a court hearing which her mother planned to attend.

The guardianship remained open after Branson’s death with Reiter, alone, having spent $130,000.00 in attorneys’ fees.

“They took more than $800,000.00 of my mother’s money in attorneys’ fees. The guardianship, in which my mother had never even been declared mentally incapacitated, lasted less than three months. This is a racketeering scheme that needs to be investigated. The F.B.I. should step in.

Different Names, Same Story

An Orange County court auditor discovered $50,000.00 missing three days before the ward died. The judge ordered an “Order to Show Cause.” Prior to the hearing, the guardian and her attorney simply brought back the missing money and placed it back with the court. The judge dropped the scheduled hearing.

Court records show that the guardian received $12,000.00 a month to pay the nursing home bills for Carlisle Bosworth. However, the skilled nursing home facility where he was placed charges only $6,000.00 a month. No investigation has ever been conducted regarding what happened to the extra $6,000.00 per month. Bosworth died shortly after all of his money had been spent.

Marion Copley was placed on Medicaid–even though her guardian, sold her home for more than $250,000.00

Professional guardian petitioned the court to become an elderly woman’s guardian when she discovered the woman had no living relatives. She told the judge that the woman, who was still living independently in her home, had “bats flying all over the inside of the house.” The allegation earned the predator another guardianship and the victim was removed from her home. Neighbors later stated that they had never seen “bats flying all over the house.”

Professional guardian obtained a guardianship over Christian Van Beekum stating that neighbors had exploited him. A quick search of the property records showed that the neighbors who had allegedly exploited Van Beekum had actually sold their home and moved to another state six years prior.

James Deaton had owned an extensive coin collection, an expensive baseball card collection, and his deceased mother’s diamond rings and pearl necklaces, according to relatives. None of these items were ever listed on the guardian’s inventory report.

Law enforcement agents, social workers, and judges have all been trained to maintain a watchful eye over exploitative family members. Yet no one seems to be guarding the guardians. Family members have complained to local law enforcement, the state attorneys’ office, and even the F.B.I.

Perhaps someone should be investigating.*

__________________________________________________

*Note: Dr. Angela V. Woodhull, a licensed private investigator, spent more than two and a half years investigating court records in Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida and interviewing family members and victims in order to compose this story. All court records that verify the contents of this article were submitted as attachments to the editor of the F.B.I. journal as verification of accuracy. Woodhull can be reached at (352) 327-3665 or

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please contact me at 321 278 8710. fFerle has manage to keep in a nursing home for the last 2 years by financial raped me of every thing I own. I was placed here after a broke my leg and had surgery. 15 weeks I was ready to return home. the roomate were forced out and all services tuned off. u c I am a disable person and have lived on my own in my home sold by her 4 34 yr please call call. I am waiting for an examiner to come by once again before I can set a date for court please call their is much more. the local new and I are looking for vitims of hers. ps.. The doctor said, it was not up to he to discharge me

I just realized that the Deputy Public Guardian of my mother and my daughter works with two look-alikes or impersonators. She (or they) defer to the agenda-driven deputy county counsel. On the witness stand, they don’t seem to know much about the facts of the cases. They just make things up and get restraining orders prohibiting my contact with my mother and my daughter. This is my eighth year of restraining orders. (San Mateo County, CA)

And this is suppose to be America. and when i think of the word america i think of freedom, , did our founding fathers die in vain?? and did those in the service was their sacrifice for nothing?? :((:((:((

I agree , that mrs. Fierle needs to be held very much accountable as well as the others who ignore the other individual’s pleadings and when they testify that they do not need a guardian nor want one , because only that individual when competent only they know themselves when it isnt needed so the courts need to really look at the facts and listen to that individual themselves rather then listening to the lies that other family members may use as tatics just to emotionally hurt the one they claim to love,when in fact it is just a ploy to gain and maintain power and control.!!!!! I do not care who these ppl are that allow for this kind of unjust behavior and inexcuable act to happen or to continue , because you are not above the law, even when a person wears a robe . we are all human beings and thus we owe it to one another to respect and let each of us live our own lives in peace. thank you.

Here are the names and locations of the people involved in abusing my family under the color of law.
In San Mateo County California the people involved in robbing my mother-in-law of her rights, money and dignity are as follows.

Deputy Public Guardians-
San Mateo Public Guardian Deputy Lynne Allen, Luis Cid, Betsy Pfaff, and Elaine Simmons . Location: 225 37th Ave. San Mateo Ca. 94403. Note: without these people none of this would have been possible.

County Counsel-
From the San Mateo County Counsel’s office representing the County of San Mateo Steven Dylina (now a superior court judge nominated by Gov. Gray Davis), and Portor Goltz current County counsel.

Judges-
(now retired)-Judge James Browning, (stand in judge)- Judge Runde, and the worst judge of all Judge Rosemary Pfeiffer.

Court investigators-
San Mateo County Court investigators involved are as follows: Mary H. Fraser, Naomi Hirayasu,
Both Fraser and Hirayasu worked under Chief Court Investigator James R. Kasper. The latest court investigator is Julianna Weidner also a court investigator works under the current Chief Court Investigator Richard C. Carlson. Ms. Weidner filed her reports, within 7 days filed another report stating the original report she filed was erroneous.
Location:Probate investigations
Superior Court SMC-127PI
Hall of Justice
Redwood City, Ca. 94063

The private conservator now in control as per court ordered is Stevan S. Chandler Private Professional Fiduciary and his attorney you can see a picture of Stevan Chandler on “Skype”. Stevan Chandler’s location is 510 Mounds Rd.
San Mateo Ca. 94402
Terese Raddie representing her client Stevan Chandler and the law firm of CARR, McClellan, ingersoll, Thompson & Horn in Burlingame, Ca. (BAR No. 115167)
Location:216 Park Road
P.O. Box 513
Burlingame, Ca. 94010
Telephone: 650-342-9600
Fax: 650-342-7685
My mother-in-law had to have a appendage amputated due to the reckless actions of the San Mateo Public Guardian Deputy Luis Cid.
Personal Injury attorney Deirdre O’Reilly Marblestone representing the law offices of Farbstein & Blackman was hired by Colleen McAvoy to investigate possible injury case against the County of San Mateo and Luis Cid. No case was ever filed by Ms. Marblestone and no action against Deputy Luis Cid was ever taken.
Location for Deirdre O’Reilly Marblestone
San Mateo Office
411 Borel Ave. Suite 425
San Mateo, Ca. 94402
phone: 650-554- 6200
Fax: 650-554-6240
e-mail. info@ farbstein.com

Since the beginning of this conservatorship no capacity declaration was ever filed.
The first accounting statement shows $156,000. missing, illegal seizure of investment funds, numerous inconsistent in billing statements. Not to mention the mental, physical, and financial abuse everyone in our family has had to endure do to the acts of a corrupt and illegal probate system in San Mateo County California.
My name is Lauren Collins and you can reach me at 650-921-2981 or at spacetwinkie@aol.com

This is not the first time I have read of these types of thefts from, and even forcible confinements of, elderly persons. And it is upsetting, to put it mildly.

In addition to names of lawyers, “professional guardians”, judges and others who have committed or enabled the acts of theft and/or forcible detainment/confinement – or are even just accused of these, I would like to see this author and others include recent photographs of these individuals. By knowing the names and and what these individuals look like, others who disapprove of the actions they have committed can withdraw their voluntary association with them – Socially Preference against them – and encourage others to do likewise.

Rebecca Fierle is named and one can easily find on the Internet that she is listed in LinkedIn, with “Experience” 1998 to present: “Provide case management, medicaid assistance, legal guardianship, trustee services, for elderly and disabled population in Central Florida area.” http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rebecca-fierle/11/668/2b However while she has no photograph there (at least in the profile available without an account or even with a non-upgraded one), a Google “image” search on her name does bring up many photos associated with that name; but if any of them are of her I could not be sure. (I do not have a Facebook account, but apparently a Rebecca Fierle does.)

For the Rebecca Fierles of the world, negative Social Preferencing – withdrawal of voluntary association – is the appropriate action of every individual who assesses her behavior to be unacceptable, beyond what the current legal system does with him/her (hir). This means having nothing to do with hir, voluntarily – clerks in stores are nothing more than civil, those who recognize hir avoid talking to or even being in proximity to hir. It is then clear that s/he is considered and treated as “persona non grata” by everyone, except of course those who think as s/he did/does and would do the same; and they too in turn can be socially preferenced against.

Something very important to keep in mind is that none of what Rebecca Fierles and those like her have done would have been possible without the government enforcers who carried out the court orders of some judge. Fierles and her ilk have no private armies to remove “wards” or their rightful property. The government enforcers – whether local or state or county sheriff’s officers – made actually initiated the physical force or threatened to do so when removing assets or the elderly themselves. Without the enforcers, the ruling of some judge at the behest of a Fierles would be nothing but spoken and/or written words. Therefore the enforcers are the key!

Those government enforcers who have participated in such harm-doing, need to be publicly identified even moreso than the Rebecca Fierles of the worlds and the others like her, including lawyers and judges, who steal from and hasten the deaths of elderly or anyone in the manner described in this article. Name and photos of these government enforcers would enable the same type of withdrawal of voluntary association by all who disapprove of what has taken place and be an influencing action against more such actions. Enforcers would be much more likely to concentrate their efforts on true physical harm prevention or apprehending actual physical harm-doers.

Selective (discriminating) association to exclude those who cause harm – and also toward those who support such harm-causing – is a potentially very powerful method of non-violent action, referred to as ostracism and shunning by many down through the ages. It is included in Gene Sharp’s 2nd volume (of 3), “The Politics of Nonviolent Action”, Chapter 4, “The Methods of Social Noncooperation”. I and husband Paul Wakfer began to use the term “negative Social Preferencing” for purposeful non-voluntary association (contrasted with positive Social Preferencing towards those who do provide value) many years ago and have described how it is the ultimate effector of social order in a truly free society (The Freeman Society) – http://selfsip.org/solutions/Social_Preferencing.html

You can be sure that if I see Rebecca Fierle (after viewing a recent photo) at any location I happen to be at, I will make it clear by my (non-violent) actions that I do *not* approve of nor even tolerate/accept her actions. This might include negative facial expressions and even verbal comments (intended to be overheard by others) such as: “There is Rebecca Fierle, that so-called “professional guardian” who took money and other assets from elderly individuals, even arranging to have some forcibly removed from their homes to nursing care facilities.”

More can be done about all the individual harm-doers mentioned in Angela Woodhull’s article (and in other reports elsewhere) than wait for some government agency action – which would simply add another layer of bureaucracy to an already enormous government and likely have only temporary positive effects at best. Let readers know who these individual harm-doers are by name and what they look like now. In this day of almost instant visual communication, large numbers of people would be enabled to shun such individuals. In order that positive and negative Social Preferencing can be widespread and therefore be highly instrumental in persuading the changing of behavior, publication of current photos of the individuals involved is essential.